I consider myself an old school, simple
lines kind of scrapper. So, when I saw the sketch for Stephanie's card, I
was immediately drawn to its easy, graphic design. Because I received
the sketches before reveal, I could only guess what Stephanie had used
on either side of her ampersand. But being a card, I assumed they were
dies with words. I decided to use the sketch for a layout though, and I
knew right away that I wanted to use photos cut in circles on either
side of the large symbol. As I started out, I was thinking that I'd use
the sketch quite literally. But once I gathered my photos and supplies, I
realized that I wasn't going to be able to make the large ampersand
work between my chosen pictures. Since I also like to "use what I have,"
and the photos were just too big, and my ampersands were just too small
(I had precut two), I had to adjust. I still wanted the look of the
larger ampersand though, so I moved it to act as my accent in the corner
instead. Ah, that worked! I also loved the way my two kits, Leather
Jacket from Sock Hop and Six String from Summer of '69 played well
together. I had recently combined the two kits into one storage sleeve
thinking they would complement each other, and I love the results. A
little calico wood veneer to finish it off, and I'm excited to share
this layout with my friend, Bernadette (who is featured here). I love
working with sketches because they give me a great jumping off point,
but I often switch gears in the middle of creating as happened here a
little. Thanks Stephanie for the great inspiration!

We love Allison's use of clean & simple lines, as well as the kind words that depict a beautiful friendship. She followed the sketch fairly closely, yet swapped a few elements out to switch things up a bit...thanks for sharing this with us, Allison!!

Please check out Allison's gallery and blog for more inspiration!You can also find her on Twitter @scrapally.

How will YOU use this sketch? Whether it's a
layout, a card or something else, link us
up to your project by January 7th for a chance to win a $5 gift
card to the Studio Calico shop. (Please remember, your project must be loaded into our gallery to
qualify...and your comment has to link back to it in the SC Gallery)